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Michael "Mike" Aresta
Michael "Mike" Aresta was a contestant on Season 12 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 17th place. Personality Mike was a terrible contestant who served pre-made food as his signature dish, he was generally disrespectful (especially when he muttered an insult behind Ramsay's back when the latter rejected his dish) and very lazy as he slacked off in the dorms during punishments. In the kitchen, he was considered a useless chef as he could not cook as he mostly done nothing but bringing up dishes not prepared by himself during services, which resulted in him being distrusted and despised by his teammates who wanted him out of the competition, especially as he took pride in doing nothing the entirety of service. He was also in denial about his performances, stating that no matter what he would do, his team would nominate him. His poor attitude led him to have a short-lived running feud with Jason until his elimination. Season 12 Episode 1 The twenty new chefs rode on a bus on route to Hell's Kitchen and during this time they had the opportunity to get to know each other. Mike asked who would give up their left leg to meet Ramsay, and called himself hardcore due to being from the military. Upon arrival, they were greeted by Jean-Philippe who walked the chefs into Hell’s Kitchen, but they walked into a service already going on with the food receiving positive comments and Ramsay expressing that the chefs in the kitchen were doing a splendid job. That confused the chefs, and once the service ended, Ramsay approached them and welcomed them. Ramsay explained that he did a soft opening to showcase the chefs what his expectations were, and asked if they could perform a service like the one they saw. Everybody promised they would, and Ramsay revealed that the winner would become a Head Chef at one of his restaurants, but first, they had to survive Hell’s Kitchen in Los Angeles, a place he deemed the capital of entertainment. Shortly after, patrons of the restaurant began putting on a performance. Afterwards, Ramsay announced it was time for the Signature Dish Challenge. During the Signature Dish Challenge, Mike was the fourth person from the blue team to have his dish judged, and went up against Kashia to have his dish judged. He made tortellini with tomatoes, but when Ramsay asked him what filling he used for his tortellini dish, he revealed that it was cheese, and added on that it was cooked from fresh package. When Ramsay asked about the tomato sauce, he revealed he used canned tomatoes, and the former angrily tossed the dish into the trash while calling it a joke, as Gabriel asked why he would serve Ramsay a dish that came out of a box. He lost that round to Kashia, but was offended about Ramsay throwing his dish away because it was not like it was packaged dog food. After talking back about it, Ramsay called him up and asked him what he just said. With no response, Ramsay told him that if had anything to say to him, say it to his face and not his back before telling him to get back in line. The blue team lost the challenge 4-5, and they were punished by resetting the dining room ahead of the opening service. During the punishment, Mike stood around doing nothing, which DeMarco annoyingly took notice of. As he vacuumed the floor instead of helping with the tables, Anton and Gabriel took notice as the latter wanted the tables to be done first, before calling him lazy and asked why he was there if he was not acting like a team player. However, he decided he had enough and walked out of the punishment to the dorms to snack on chips, which Chris knew would not fly in Hell’s Kitchen During dinner service, Mike was on the meat station with Anton. He wasn't seen that night, but the blue team was kicked out of the kitchen after multiple mistakes. Both teams were named joint-losers, and had to nominate two chefs for elimination. He was not nominated for elimination. Episode 2 The next day, at 4:33 AM, the chefs awoke to the sounds of dirt bikes revving in the dorms, and Sous Chef Andi told the chefs to meet Ramsay outside. During the Basics Relay Challenge, Mike compared Richard to a Russian bear when the latter rode on the tricycle, and deemed Jason a funny guy when the latter yelled crazily. He was paired up with Scott, they were the fourth pair from the blue team to compete, and their task was to filet four trouts. They quickly got their trouts fileted and sent up to Ramsay, and their first attempt was accepted. The blue team won the challenge 5-4, and they were rewarded with a trip to San Francisco, which included lunch with Ramsay at Epic Roasthouse, and going on a VIP trip around San Francisco on Segway’s. During the reward, he felt the men were bouncing back as their victory was what they wanted to feel every day. During dinner service, Mike served raw oyster appetizer tableside. He was not seen that much, until Jean-Philippe told him he was serving his appetizers to a red table and not the blue table like he was supposed to, and was forced to apologize. After multiple mistakes, the blue team was kicked out of the kitchen. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each. He was not nominated for elimination. Episode 3 The next day, at 5:45 AM, the chefs were woken to the sound of pigs squealing and a farmer yelling very loud. Before the Potato Challenge, Mike was not down for the farm shit at all, was not seen during part 1, and the blue team won 100-90. During part 2, he successfully got his dish up in the top five for the blue team, was the fourth person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Melanie. He made a Yukon boulangère with caramelized onions and rosemary, but Ramsay felt the dish was macerated in the herb, and asked the men if they even tasted his dish before putting it in the top five. The men said they did not, he scored only one point, and Chris concluded that he cannot cook, and was poison for the men. The blue team lost the challenge 16-18, and they were punished by cleaning the livestock out in the pen. During the punishment, he complained about smelling like ass due to getting in the dirt. During prep, when DeMarco was sent to urgent care after slicing his finger, Mike claimed he would have wrapped his fingers together even if the slice was at his knuckles, before believing that some people cannot handle it. During dinner service, he was on the fish station with Chris. At one point, he told Chris to drop the scallops even though the latter said it was not on order. Now in a confused state, Chris called him an idiot and told him to listen before claiming he could not fix stupidity. Later, Chris warned him that one of their pans was roaring hot, and pushed him away from his work. Then, he walked up an uncrusted halibut that Chris forgot to put on, and an annoyed Richard told him to help Chris out. Later, he walked another halibut just when DeMarco realized he forgot to leave the bone on his chicken and had to do a refire. Then, despite telling Scott that the halibut was not ready, the latter sliced his lamb and walked it to the pass. It was that mistake that led to the blue team getting kicked out. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate three each. During deliberation, Chris told Mike that all he did that night was season the fish, but while he reminded him that he wanted to lead all night, Jason reminded him that he stood around doing nothing. Then, he suggested they nominate Gabriel for doing the same amount of work as himself that night, but the latter argued against that logic and accused of standing around, and Jason yelled at him to go back to the grocery store. That led to a screaming match between him and Jason, but DeMarco, Scott, and Anton went between the two before things got physical. Mike was named the blue team's first nominee for elimination, with DeMarco as the second, and Chris as the third. He and DeMarco were called down to the front with Simone from the red team, was ordered to hand over his jacket, and Ramsay gave him ten seconds each to plead his case. During his plea, he wanted to get a chance to run fish, and that Chris led it to the ground. He survived elimination, and before being sent back in line, Ramsay tossed his jacket back. While being dismissed, he told everybody to kiss his 350-pound ass if they were going to throw him under the bus, and said it was game on. Episode 4 While going back to the dorms, said was not going to let his team talk trash about him, point the finger at him, or cry about it. During the Lobster Ravioli Challenge, Mike was in a three man team with DeMarco and Gabriel. At one point, DeMarco felt he was just standing there and doing nothing there, before calling him useless. However, he got annoyed when DeMarco was rerolling already prepared raviolis. They were seen sending up one attempt, but it was rejected as Ramsay said that the pasta was too thick. The blue team lost the challenge 9-10, with Ramsay in particular calling Gabriel, DeMarco and Mike Dumber and Dumber and Dumber. They were punished by cleaning up the pennies worth $200,000, as well as clean and prep both kitchens for that night’s service. During the punishment, on a break, Scott said that he and DeMarco were not helping much, which Jason and Johnson agreed to as the former said they had to trim the fat off, and the latter accused him and DeMarco of not doing shit for the team. When he asked Johnson if he wanted to watch over their station, the latter bluntly said he should have, while he said it was not his fault that one ravioli was overcooked. However, DeMarco sarcastically said that he was never at fault, causing an argument between them. While cleaning up the pennies, Anton asked him and DeMarco what was missing from them. DeMarco replied that they needed to communicate more, but said he did not want to work with anyone, causing him to tell DeMarco to suck his cock and said he cared what Ramsay thinks rather than what his team thinks. Anton said he was asking everyone's opinion, but while he did not want to talk about the past, Richard told him to answer Anton's question as he told the men to go fuck themselves. During the Steak Night dinner service, Mike was on the appetizer station with Ralph. At one point, Ralph called for a minute on his ravioli, but he poured them all in a pot too soon, angering Ralph as he told him to wait for his order. However, he told Ralph to get the fuck out of the way and let him help. Ramsay asked why he was doing nothing, and while he replied nobody wanted his help, Ramsay told him to help and told Johnson to let him do something. However, he sent up ravioli with no lobster, Ramsay reminded them that they practiced making them all morning, and ordered them to get a grip. Then, he asked Richard how long the crab cakes were, while Anton was forced to make risotto from scratch because he did not step up, making the latter believe he had enough. The blue team lost the service after receiving help from the red team, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Gabriel noticed he was missing as he went to the bathroom, while Johnson felt he has given up just as he came back. Jason bluntly told him that he was going up no matter how much he fought against it, leaving him to note that he was a target no matter what he did. Mike was named the blue team's first nominee, with DeMarco being the second. During his plea, he felt they got rolling after Ramsay convinced Ralph to help, but the latter said it was not true as he instead stirred risottos and did only one ravioli. However, he claimed that he could not help somebody who did not want it, and when Ramsay asked him why the men had little trust in him, he admitted that he had no idea. Richard said it was because he was playing both the hiding and finger pointing game since day one, and Jason added on that while it could be one thing for him to own up to a station, the latter felt he has not done so yet. Then, he made a request to Ramsay to give the men what they wanted by removing him from the blue team and place him with the women as they would appreciate him more than the men, but the women visibly disagreed with that idea. In the end, Ramsay denied his request, and eliminated him for his poor attitude and lack of passion. He left without accepting Ramsay’s handshake, and during his exit interview, he felt he was the fall guy for the men, before feeling there was no camaraderie in the men and hoped to forget about them like they would of himself. Ramsay's comment: "There once was a cook named Mike, he couldn't cook fish, or any of the dish, so I told him to take a hike." Nomination history Trivia *He is the fifth contestant to have a military background before coming to Hell's Kitchen, following Bobby (Season 4), Joseph (Season 6), Guy (Season 10), and Dan (Season 11). *He is the fourth contestant who used pre-made food for his signature dish, following Rock (Season 3), Salvatore (Season 7), and Jonathon (Season 9). He is also the first who did and talked back about it. *He is the second contestant who requested a team switch during elimination, following Matt (Season 4), and the first who was denied and eliminated. *After his appearance on the show, he appears to have returned to being a chef instructor. Quotes *(interivew; after Ramsay threw away his signature dish) "I'm a little insulted, it's not like it's packaged dog food." *(After Ramsay threw away his signature dish)"Fuck it, that's bullshit bro!" *(After being eliminated) "I definitely feel like I was the fall guy. I'm gonna have fun watching the guys go down, because they're a bunch of backstabbing bitches. There's no camaraderie there. I will definitely forget about these guys as quickly as they've chosen to forget about me." External Links * Category:Chef Category:Season 12 Category:17th Place Category:New Jerseyans